3. New Trends of Regional Development Since the 18th CPC National Congress

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the central government has attached great importance to the problems of regional development and put forward the new requirements—to coordinate the east, the middle and the west as a whole and the north and the south as a whole, and focus on implementing Three Strategies, including the Belt and Road Initiative, Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, while continuing to implement regional development strategies such as the Western Development Strategy, the Revitalization Plan of Old Industrial Bases Including Northeast Region and the Rise of Central China. Coordinated implementation of the Four Regional Plans (East Taking the Lead, the Rise of Central China, the Revitalization of the Northeast Region and the Western Development Strategy) and Three Strategies (the Belt and Road Initiative, Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and the Yangtze River Economic Belt) is conducive to a better balance between the domestic and international markets and interconnected development of the eastern area and the central and western regions. In addition, it also helps foster new poles, belts and points of economic growth by connecting the dots, so as to build a new pattern of all-round opening up and cooperation in coastal, riverside, border and inland areas.